I find it disturbing, the amount of people who ignorantly call Christmas a "pagan holiday".
Here's the biblical truth. In Corinthians 1:8-13, God says this:
8 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
Above, we see Paul addressing people scolding others because they eat meat sacrificed to idols. This is the exact same argument as scolding people for celebrating holidays that are supposedly pagan. It's as close as an analogy as you'll ever find. In both cases, you have someone wagging their finger at someone else for partaking in something that is supposedly dedicated to paganism.
To summarize, Paul is saying this:
There are no pagan gods. They're not real. "We know an idol is nothing". There are no other gods, only one God.
Paul then says feel free to chow down on that food sacrificed to idols, because we know idols aren't real and there are no pagan gods. It's ok, go ahead and do it.
But there's one caveat.
There are people who are completely ignorant of God's word. They don't realize pagan gods aren't real. They don't realize that meat sacrificed to idols is meaningless. When they see you eating the meat that is supposedly sacrificed to idols, it can be a stumbling block for them.
That's the only circumstance where you can't eat it.
Now bringing back the analogy to holidays such as Christmas or Easter, there are people who know God's word and there are fools who believe pagan gods are real. There are people who can take any holiday and make it a holiday in which God is exalted, and there are fools who scold anyone who would consider celebrating it.
And the ridiculous part is that Christians already revere Christmas and Easter, not as being pagan, but as being Christ-centered. If the analogy were 1 to 1 equal, December 25 and Easter could be openly advertised as pagan holidays and its still ok to celebrate them -- but instead they are already widely seen as being Christ-centered holidays. This makes the disparaging of these holidays extra ridiculous.
God says you can eat meat sacrificed to idols as long as you're giving Him the glory (and not surrounded by weak-minded fools who are ignorant of the bible). Certainly, you can also celebrate holidays that are widely seen as a celebration of God and Jesus.
One last thing -- to those who just can't wait to type in the comment section how much you hate celebrating Christmas, it's also American culture. Right now there are groups dedicated to stripping America of all culture. You don't like Christmas, and neither does the blue-haired TDS Karens. Ask yourself why your goals are so seamlessly aligning with the far left.
It's important to define precisely what you mean by "pagan". Pagan does not mean some kind of separate religion opposed to Christianity. The Latin pāgānus was originally meant as a term to refer to a “country dweller” or “civilian.” The term was primarily used by Roman soldiers, who thought of themselves as soldiers of Christ in the Christian religion, to describe anyone who wasn’t in the army; therefore, Paganism originated as military slang.
I don't know a lot about Christianity in general but I have spent a lot of time studying how it arrived in my own country, England. Prior to about the 3rd century almost everyone lived as peasant farmers in isolated groups. They were "pagans" in the literal sense but had little education or communications. Travel beyond the next village was unlikely, so there was no formalised cohesive religion, but they did have elements of religious thought based on Germanic religions and observation of the natural world, seasons, lunar cycle and so on.
The story goes that Christianity was brought to England as a religious mission either by Joseph of Arimathea or Lucius of Brittania but I suspect those are just myths. In reality Christianisation was a slow process which started to take off in about the 6th century and yes there certainly were adaptations of older religious observances. There had to be some give and take, as not everyone welcomed having a new religion effectively imposed on them.
Fun fact: Christmas was actually banned in the mid-1600s in both England and Massachusetts.
Paganus and pagan mean different things. Do you see anyone saying "paganus" today? No. Also your comment is doing mental gymnastics for no reason.
What do you propose we call worshipping nature gods, then? Or odin, thor, etc?
The existence of other religions, Pagan or otherwise, is no threat to Christianity. It is not an either/or.
Perhaps you'd like to rename the days of the week then to be more acceptable to Christians?
Sunday - day of the sun
Monday - day of the moon
Tuesday - from tīwesdæg, meaning “Tiu’s day.” Tiu was a Germanic god of the sky and war. His Latin equivalent is Mars
Wednesday - day of Odin also called Wodin
Thursday - Thor's day
Friday - from Old Norse Freyjudagr “day of Freyja”. Her Latin equivalent is Venus, which some modern languages have preserved for example French, where Friday is called “Vendredi”, deriving from the Latin “Veneris dies” meaning “day of Venus”
Saturday - Saturn's day